The Simpsons Trading Card Game

Infobox_Game | subject_name= The Simpsons Trading Card Game
image_link=
image_caption=
designer= Mike Selinker, Mike Elliott, and Tyler Bielman
publisher= Wizards of the Coast
players= 2-5
ages= 10+
setup_time=
playing_time= Approx 20 min
complexity=
strategy=
random_chance= Some
skills= Card playing
Arithmetic
Basic Reading Ability
footnotes=
bggid=7860

"The Simpsons Trading Card Game" is a collectible card game based on the popular FOX animated television series, The Simpsons. The game was published in September 2003 by Wizards of the Coast.

Card types

The game features three card types:
* Characters - Major and minor characters from the television show. These characters have "traits" which are matched against scene requirements.
* Scenes - Cards showing various "Simpsons" locations. Scenes are where players compete, in an effort to "complete" or "trash" each scene for points.
* Actions - Special cards which have some immediate effect on the game. Actions are discarded after being played.

Gameplay

While "The Simpsons Trading Card Game" can be played with only 2 players, it is primarily designed to be played with anywhere from 3 to 5 players. As with all games in the genre, each player provides his or her own customized deck. The first player to earn 7 points wins the game (although ties are possible).

Each player, during his or her turn, can take the following actions:

* Play a scene, if that player does not already have one in play.
* Play character cards (up to 2) to any in-play scene.
* Declare an eligible scene "completed" or "trashed".
* Play an action card, if the action card is legal to play at this time.

At the end of a turn, the player can discard as many cards from his or her hand as desired, and then draw back up to 6 cards. Other than certain action cards which can be played during an opponent's turn, cards can only be played during one's own turn.

Scenes are completed or trashed by having an appropriate number of characters played to them. Characters who have at least one trait matching the scene count towards completing the scene, while characters who do not have a matching trait count towards trashing the scene. Once the appropriate number of characters are present, any player can declare the scene completed or trashed during his or her turn. The player who finishes the scene decides which characters are actually used in that scene; since scenes are not completed or trashed automatically, it can be advantageous to wait to do so due to various scoring situations.

When a scene is completed, the player who played the scene and any other players with any characters used to complete the scene score one point. A bonus point is also available if the scene was completed; this point is awarded to the player with the most characters involved in completing the scene. No bonus point is awarded if there is a tie, or if the scene was trashed.

Deck construction

Player constructed decks for "The Simpsons Trading Card Game" must abide by the following rules and restrictions:
* Decks must contain at least 40 cards.
* Decks must contain at least 9 scene cards.
* Decks cannot contain more than 3 copies of any given card.
* Only action cards belonging to a single "star character" can be present in a deck, e.g. actions belonging to Lisa or to Bart, but not both.

Decks may contain a single star character which matches the action cards used in that deck, if desired. Since stars do not count towards the 2 character per turn limit when played, it is favorable to include these when such cards are available.

Products and availability

Cards can be purchased either in 11-card booster packs, or in 40-card fixed-content character theme decks. The four theme decks feature cards based around a single character from the series, specifically Bart, Homer, Lisa, and Mr. Burns. The only star character lacking a theme deck is Krusty the Clown.

There are a total of 156 unique cards. There are only 2 levels of rarity, common and rare, although there are both foil and non-foil versions of the rare cards. Certain cards are only available in theme decks, while other cards are only available in booster packs.

External links

* [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=simpsons "The Simpsons TCG" Official Site]
* [http://www.snpp.com/guides/simpsons_tcg.html The Simpsons Archive - "The Simpsons Trading Card Game"]
*bgg|7860|"The Simpsons Trading Card Game"
* [http://www.simpsonsmuseum.com/Simpsons/page49.html "The Simpsons TCG" Complete Photo Spoiler]
* [http://simpsonstradingcardgame.blogspot.com/ "The Simpsons TCG" Blog with Links and Game Strategies]